Friday, March 13, 2015

The innings of destiny !!

After months of waiting and anticipation the moment that
Cricket fans have been so eagerly waiting for is underway. The 11th
ICC Cricket World Cup is in motion. Fourteen nations from all across the
Cricketing world are slugging it out down under in a month and a half long
gruelling battle of Strength, Strategy, Wits and Stamina. It remains to be seen
which of these nations will triumph ultimately and carve their name in the
annals of Cricketing glory.

For India, the world cup just could not have started better.
Thumping victories against arch rivals Pakistan, the strong Proteas, minnows
UAE and Ireland has set the momentum and all across the nation and fans are
rejoicing as India has smoothly sailed into the semi-finals. For many Indians,
winning against Pakistan is like winning the world cup itself and is enough reason
to celebrate. But then again, Indians don’t need any excuse to celebrate
Cricket. It is no big secret that the billion plus people who reside in the
world’s largest democracy follow the game with a zeal and passion that rival
the most extreme of religious fanatics. Productivity will be at an all-time low
as students and professionals will cut classes and bunk office for watching
matches. Even the most workaholic of executives will take time off to check the
scores on their laptops or smartphones. Politics and social issues will take a
backseat as Cricket will form centre-stage of all discussions. The usually
crowded malls and multiplexes will wear a deserted look. For the entire
duration of the tournament, Indian players will be under intense scrutiny by
the Indian media and fans. And this kind of attention brings about huge
pressure, as expectations will be sky high. Fans will expect the Indian team to
retain the cup they won in 2011 and nothing less will suffice for them. Credit
goes to Dhoni and his boys for tackling the huge pressure and expectations to
lift the trophy after a gap of no less than twenty eight years(India won it's maiden world title in 1983) in front of a
delirious home crowd in Mumbai.

If the Indian team of 2011 was burdened with huge
expectations to live up to, the 1983 world cup winning team had none. In fact,
no one really expected them to qualify for the knockouts, leave alone win the
tournament. As Kapil Dev, the captain of the Indian 1983 World Cup Squad said
in an interview, “No one even gave us a ghost of a chance”.

In the early eighties India were yet to find their footing
in the one day Cricket scenario. Established contenders as they were in test
cricket, their one day prowess left a lot to be desired. And if their record in
the previous world cups (One win in 1975 and no win in 1979) was anything to go
by, people would consider India lucky even to win a few matches. Indian Cricket
itself was in a volatile state. After a disastrous tour of Pakistan four months
prior to the tournament, Sunil Gavaskar was forced relinquish the captaincy. After
some deliberation, the board decided to entrust the captaincy to Kapil Dev
Nikhanj, a raw and inexperienced youth from Haryana. Kapil was a newbie and had
yet to earn the respect of his team mates. But he was brave and not averse to
taking risks: perhaps just the tonic that Team India needed.

Just for the record, the 1983 World Cup consisted of eight
teams divided into two groups of four teams each. India were placed in a
seemingly tough group alongside the mighty West Indies, Australia and minnows
Zimbabwe. England, Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri-Lanka were in the other group.
Each team was to play the other team twice. The top two teams in each group would
progress to the knock-outs. Critics predicted a cake-walk for West Indies and
Australia. Entering with no expectations, India started the 1983 tournament
with a bang, defeating the West Indies in their first league encounter followed
by another victory against Zimbabwe. A few eyebrows were raised. Many however,
considered the victory against the West Indies a fluke. India failed
to make the most of the winning start and fell behind with losses to Australia
and the West Indies again in their second league encounter with the giants. They
desperately needed a win in their remaining league matches (against Zimbabwe
and Australia each) for any hope of them qualifying for the knockouts. Many
thought that the match against minnows Zimbabwe would be an easy victory while
the match against Australia would be more challenging. Little did they know how
close India came to being eliminated against the minnows.

India and Zimbabwe met at Turnbridge Wells, England on the
18th of June 1983. India won the toss and elected to bat first on a
green pitch which the Zimbabwean seamers exploited to their lethal advantage. The
pitch proved a mine-field in the initial overs and four Indian wickets fell rapidly,
much to the dismay of the Indian supporters present. Gavaskar, Srikanth,
Mohinder Amarnath and Sandip Patil arrived and departed the crease in quick
succession. The score-board read nine runs for the loss of four wickets. Kapil
Dev, the Indian skipper sauntered in. Many did not know it yet but he was about
to play the innings of a lifetime. Soon, the wicket of Yashpal Sharma fell and
the score read seventeen for five. It was all looking bleak for India. A pall
of gloom fell on the Indian spectators. If India were to lose this match, they
would not qualify for the knock-outs and would have to return home bearing the
ignominy of defeat. The sceptics would have been proven right and the media
would have written off their initial victories as flukes. The organizers feared
that the match would be over before lunch time and they would have trouble
controlling the Indian crowd which was growing increasingly volatile. But
destiny had other things planned. For the next couple of hours Kapil held his
nerve and batted cautiously to steady the ship even while wickets were tumbling
at the other end. Other batsmen arrived and returned back to the pavilion
without giving much support to their skipper. India looked in deep peril with
the score reading seven for seventy eight. Madan Lal came in and gave some much
needed support to his skipper. When he fell, the score read one hundred and
forty for the loss of eight wickets. India were not out of the woods yet. Syed
Kirmani, the Indian wicket keeper came in. Kirmani supported his skipper
beautifully and together, they put on one hundred and twenty nine run
partnership for the ninth wicket, a record which still stands today. Kapil, on
his part paced his innings beautifully. He played with caution at first taking
his runs in singles and twos, striking the odd boundary till he reached his
century in the 49th over. After that he was a tiger unleashed. He
struck the ball with brute force to all corners of the ground and many times
over it as well. At the end of sixty overs, Kapil’s score read an incredible
one Hundred and Seventy Five runs while India’s score was a respectable Two
hundred and Sixty Six runs for the loss of nine wickets. The score was still within
reach by the opposition but it was far better than what would have been given
India’s top order collapsing like a pack of cards.

Rejuvenated by their skippers knock, India fought back like
tigers and restricted Zimbabwe to two hundred and thirty five runs, with Kapil
again being in the thick of action taking a few vital wickets. India had pulled
of an incredible victory, thanks to the courage and the never-say-die attitude
of one man. Cricket is a team game, but sometimes it takes a special individual
performance to lift the sagging morale of the entire team. Clearly, Kapil’s
innings made the entire difference between victory and defeat. The BBC camera
crew were on strike that day which is a pity; as one of the greatest cricketing
knocks in Indian One day Cricket history went unrecorded. Many people fondly
remember the famous victory over the West Indies in the 1983 final, but few
remember that had it not been for the champion performance of a spirited leader
a few matches earlier, India would have never got there.